So today I’m working on an 8 x 8 wood canvas. Wood canvases are my FAVORITE for working with any kind of mixed media or just acrylic paint.

I started with a layer of clear gesso to prime the surface. Then, I picked out colors that I love in acrylic paint and started adding color randomly to the canvas. Since I picked out the colors beforehand, I know I’m going to love everything I put down and I can work intuitively and not have to put as much thought into it. This spur of the moment creativity is my favorite.

In-between layers I dried it with my heat gun. For a bubbly, grungy effect I also purposely had the heat gun too hot and too close to the surface.

Along with acrylics, I’m also mixing in acrylic mists and letting them drip.

Next, I used an Artistcellar Sacred Geometry 2 stencil with DecoArt Media Mister, and when that dried I painted in some of the gold leaf adhesive. After about 15 minutes the adhesive went from a milky color to clear and I was able to do the gold leafing!

Gold leafing is a bit scary for me because I’m not used to it and it’s really different for me but I love the experimentation of new supplies.

What is a supply that is scary for you? I challenge you to incorporate it into your work this week!